In a big time error at three of Florida's hard-line prisons, a computer blunder put hundreds of thousands of dollars into the canteen accounts of 186 inmates.

The mistake went undetected for at least 10 months -- while assorted convicts ordered Marlboros, peanut M&Ms, vending machine cheeseburgers, tennis shoes, radios, cookies, chewing tobacco, even televisions.

Now the party is over. The inmates are not happy about it, and the Florida Department of Corrections is embarrassed.

The spending spree had something to do with "problems with the mainframe and software and local systems," Department of Corrections spokesman Sterling Ivey said.

It started in January 2000, when the inmate banking system went awry. The result: Inmates erroneously got $100 to $200 a month -- enough for photo albums galore, greeting cards, dictionaries, chili dogs, ice cream, chicken soup, and red faces for prison officials.

All this occurred at Florida State Prison at Starke, Union Correctional Institution at Raiford and Martin Correctional Institution at Indiantown, the state's toughest prisons.

In the land of clanking metal doors and razor wire, spirits lifted and moods improved. Then, it ended as quickly as it started.

Forty-one inmates complained that money from their families was disappearing. When the Department of Corrections checked it out, it discovered the inmate banking system was a mess. It was both taking and giving by mistake.

In August, the state began returning money to the 41 so-called "innocent" inmates and began taking money from the 186 so-called "guilty" inmates.

Now, inmates who got the big break have no money. No more snuff. No more shaving gel. No more Honey Buns.

"We've replaced $20,000, so far," said Ivey. "We've got a long way to go."

Orlando Sentinel

-- Anonymous, October 14, 2002